Entrepreneurship: Finding opportunity in difficulty
George Iboku is at the popular Marina, Lagos. Iboku is headed for Apapa, one of the most traffic-clogged areas in the world. Apapa, for him, is one hell of a place where tankers and human beings compete for spaces.
He is not on his car today because he is scared of the unending gridlock in the Lagos Island during peak hours. But here he is, caught between boarding a bus and using a ferry. No, taking a bus would mean getting to Apapa in three to four hours, even though this journey should take less than 20 minutes if Nigeria does not solely rely on lifting petroleum products from the area.
“Let me see,” he mutters.
He climbs the overhead bridge bothering Marina and CMS, and then descends in a matter of five minutes.
He moves to the extreme end of the jetty.
“This is one hundred and fifty naira. We have new ferries here and you can get to Apapa in four minutes,” the ticket seller assures him.
He wonders why there are many people standing up and sitting down. These people are, after all, waiting to board.
Iboku pays, not minding that the rate is fifty naira higher than what his friend Akin had told him. He looks at his ticket and finds out that he is number 2120.
He checks the tickets of other ‘voyagers’ and discovers they are all numbered alphabetically.
“Wow,” he shouts. People turn and cast surprising look at him.
The look suggests that the people are wondering if he is in his right senses. He presses the calculator on his phone for a simple multiplication exercise.
“Wow, this N318, 000 just at 1.33 pm,” he mutters.
Several eyes are still fixed at him. He is smiling and clapping his hands in awe, unconscious of the roving eyes. He boards the ferry to Apapa, promising to return next time.
Like George Iboku, many Nigerians easily press calculators to determine how much the next person makes without thinking seriously of what they do.
Apapa in Lagos State is notorious for traffic clog, but some entrepreneurs have chosen to make fortunes from the situation by providing a faster and reliable alternative means of transportation.
Iboku’s ferry is new and can get to Apapa in fewer than five minutes, at exactly the same amount of money any passenger who uses a commercial bus pays.
The firm’s charges are costlier than what Iboku was told, but that does not really bother people who live, work or have business dealings in Apapa.
“Fifty naira is nothing to anybody who has something to do here,” Sunday Anthony, who used the ferry on December 2, told this writer.
“These people’s ferries are faster and safer,” said Anthony.
By the end of that day, over three thousand passengers board the ferries.
Going by George Iboku’s calculation, this company makes more than N450, 000, equivalent to about $2,250, just in a day, basically because the owners saw an opportunity in a crisis situation. By the time the Nigerian government solves this traffic problem in Apapa, the company will have made money that could outlast many citizens.
Africa’s largest economy suffers from declining revenue resulting from falling oil prices. Many people in the oil & gas business have gone out of business while many foreign firms are divesting, according to Eswei Jude, an oil marketer.
This is a big problem for a briefcase business owner, but it presents an opportunity for any entrepreneur willing to explore untapped opportunities in the Nigerian economy.
“Nigeria is extraordinary. There is huge population here, very dynamic. There are human and natural resources here,” Peter Hoddinott, group managing director, Lafarge Africa plc, a building materials maker, told this writer recently.
The southern part of Nigeria, for example, relies on the north for food products such as rice, beans and onion, vegetables, among others. These commodities are sometimes scarce in the south, but no scientific research has shown that they cannot be grown there. There is arable land in coastal areas in Anambra, Imo, Bayelsa, Delta and Edo. “Rather than wait for unavailable white collar jobs, why not tap into an opportunity to feed some regions?” asked Ibem Uzaka, an agriculture entrepreneur.
There are also some crops grown in the south that can be grown in the north.
According to Peter Nett, a researcher and economic analyst, people want to become big entrepreneurs but are unwilling to challenge conventions. This, to him, is why many fixedly believe that oil palm grown in Nigeria cannot be grown in Malaysia.
“But you know what, oil palm grown in Nigeria was taken to Malaysia and Malaysia is now the world’s second largest producer of oil palm,” Nett said.
In Nigeria today, only two known companies make water purifiers. The demand is so high that either of the two producers in the eastern Nigeria supplies the product even to the farthest north.
In the manufacturing industry, there are yet over 70 sub-sectors lying fallow. While Nigerians are obsessed with importing even toothpicks, foreign investors are gradually taking advantage of the opportunities.
Amid problems and difficulties, entrepreneurs seek what people lack and try to solve problems.
“To be a successful entrepreneur, you must identify a problem and try to solve it. By solving the problem and providing solutions, you will be making money,” said Uche Ogah, president/founder, Masters Energy, at an entrepreneurship forum held in Lagos.
ODINAKA ANUDU